China’s gaming behemoth Shanda (NASDAQ:GAME) is very serious about mobile. So serious, in fact, that it’s releasing a phone next month. Today, the company took another step into the mobile world by launching its new mobile gaming platform, the confusingly-named G+ (no relation to Google’s social networking service).
At present, the service is host to just three mobile games (all for Android) but Sina Tech reports there will likely be at least ten by the end of this year. Like most Chinese gaming platforms, it will also operate multiplayer games, and allow players to recharge their game accounts with real money via a variety of third-party payment options. The eventual plan is that Shanda’s most important products will be playable on mobile phones, PC clients, and within the browser.
As it has so few offerings at the moment, we’ll have to wait and see how well the platform works out. But it’s clear that Shanda is taking mobile gaming very seriously. Or at least kind of seriously. The name works a bit better in Chinese, to be fair, but it’s still a pretty questionable choice. When reached for comment, Google issued the following official statement (not really):
[via Sina Tech]